City of Madness @ Club 24

For the pasty-faced, pleather-clad members of the Valley's goth and industrial scene, 2013 already has been a year of tumult and turmoil.

First, longtime venue Sanctum, which hosted freaky-deaky fetishistic adventures during numerous nights like TekNOIR and Black Mass for years, decided to kill off its dance events in late January. Its proprietors pulled a 180, however, and began hosting dance nights again before ultimately pulling the plug for good a couple of weeks later.

It wasn't too surprising for goth DJs like Mark Peskin (a.k.a. Apollynon), as the scene has endured many a venue closure or location change over the past two decades. Like others, the 30-year-old planned to move things over to Monsterland in Mesa only to learn that the haunted house and nightspot was being laid to the grave as well.

It's a frustrating situation to say the least, and has caused Peskin to be absolutely certain that Club 24, 2424 East Thomas Road, the home for his new night City of Madness, will stick around for the foreseeable future. After all, he really digs the CenPho LGBT dance joint.

"I really like the venue, the mirrors on the walls [surrounding] the dance floor, and a nice lighting system," Peskin says. "It's a small club but doesn't feel cramped or cheap."

It's the perfect home for dark shenanigans, he says, that's already hosting the similarly themed Killing Jar dance party on Friday nights. Best of all, Club 24 will indeed be open for business on Saturday, February 23, when he and DJ Angel Toxin debut their orgy of old and new school industrial, EBM, goth, and synthpop.

Each week, the pair will host various guest stars (such as venerated Tranzylvania vet Noiz.Fkr, who will visit during the debut) and put on a variety of themed parties, like Apollynon's ongoing Reform School fetish events, that will each run into the after-hours.